1 Dress 4 Looks Take 76

For someone who is absolutely not into gothic stuff, whenever I gravitate towards it, I am in Haenuli’s chokehold. First Just One Bite and now Joan of Arc? I was a goner from the moment I saw the illustration and then had to resist stealing the fashion show sample that was in my house in the lead up to The Queen is Dead. But now I finally have my own JSK and vest from that set. It’s taken a while because the vest was stuck in production due to manufacturer issues and I chose to wait on doing this post until I had both. So let’s not waste any more time then!

Look 1: The Holy Knight

| Haenuli x I Do Declare blouse | Resailan Jewelry Box tights | Modo Prayer Poem shoes | Twilight Couture Heart of Gold crown | AmaStacia earrings | Le Petit Four The Warrior Sacred Heart necklace | Anne’s Flower brooch | Le Petit Four ring | Voodoodolly ring | rapier |

Is this the final, truly aspirational version of this coord? No, certainly not. I would love to replace the legwear with something more prominently black x gold. And actual pauldrons because, obviously, actual pauldrons. For now I will make do with just having the rapier (still unnamed, I am great at naming plushies, but not weaponry). The idea has to start somewhere and getting the obvious out of the way first helps me see what still needs tweaking.

Look 2: The Golden Queen

| Lady Sloth Glitter Mesh blouse | Annzley corset | AatP Arabesque OTKs | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | offbrand crown and ring | vii earrings | Gravelvet Iridescent Princess necklace | vintage brooch | Folk and Fortune Ruby Hilt Dagger brooch | 

This begs for a golden cape or at least a sceptre, but once again, we’re making do with what we have. At one point this and the look above will end up blending into one and the same or into something new. But right now they are two separate entities with ever so slightly different vibes. This post was held up precisely because of the vest and then even more to allow my new Elf Armorie shoes (the VW Anglomania replacements) to arrive. It was worth the wait then because the final outfit looks great, if I may say so myself.

Look 3: The Popess

| L’Esprit de la Noblesse Le Nuage blouse | overdress from Baroque’s Repose of Queen OP | Enchantlic Enchantilly The Crown of the Rose Princess tights | Elf Armorie Cupid’s Heart shoes | offbrand kokoshnik and flower clips | Enchanted Dream Wear necklace | handmade chain of office and ring | Sacred Heart brooch from Pretty Rock Baby’s Spring Break Upper East Side cardigan | Puvithel Crystal Heart brooch |

Sticking to the medieval figures theme that I’ve apparently started, as well as in a nod to Joan of Arc’s religious background – a slightly more religious take. Remember that one OTT set from some Chinese brand that was basically pope lolita? This is what I tried to emulate here. The black dress is messing a little with that, but I think the accessories help convey the theme. On the flatlay the red looks a little bottom heavy, but I think that with the accessories actually worn on that upper half, everything would balance itself out.

Look 4: The Poet

| Axes Femme blouse | Innocent World Original Lace Millefeuille bolero | Innocent World Fleurs Checkered OTKs | Angelic Pretty Elegant Doll boots | Cutie Creator Maiden’s Prayer headbow | handmade earrings | offbrand necklace | Fantastic Grim Jewelry necklace | Enchantlic Enchantilly Queen Cat Secret Library ring | Violet Fane The Apotheque brooch |

Hey Google, play Soldier, Poet, King. This shade of gold is just a very light brown, so I played that up with some dark academia vibes. Nothing overly complicated, so as to not detract from the print with excess. I wish I had a quill brooch or even a prop quill to throw into this somewhere. Just for the aesthetics. And please, disregard how weirdly the shoulders look on this flatley. Between the layers of fabric and my bed being so stupidly big that bending over it to faff with flatlays gives me back pain, I just didn’t have it in me to fix that.


Will this be the most versatile dress in my collection? Heck no. But it’s not meant to be. The last coord here is more of an attempt at putting together something that I could wear to something like a gallery meetup rather than a full-on toning down of what is otherwise a relatively elaborate dress. Even though I can also envision a couple of simpler coords that I could do with this (my black x gold Axes Femme cutsew comes to mind as a potential candidate for something truly laid back). But again, those are better for wearing, whereas these posts are more interesting when there is something more going on.